The Things Behind Those Eyes

"Blood rushes into my mouth, and eyes, and nose

So this is how I die. My mind accepts that much.

But it’s so clean.

Blood’s so clean. Through it, I breathe still.

And like before, I’m alone

My paintings sink, canvases stained red, until you can’t see what it’s meant to be

My orbs sink, glasses stained red, until you can’t see the faces inside scream

Everything

Happiness

Goodbye’d"

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The Things Behind Those Eyes is a ~46,500 word-long collection of several short stories and poems I have written over the past few years.

The five short stories cover a rather diverse set of topics and moods, most of which are in some ways rather absurd; A man who has been isolated and tormented by having to roll a boulder uphill for what feels like an eternity is bewildered when his punishment is suddenly revoked. An airplane full of people goes quiet when a strange kind of curse befalls the plane and it turns into an eternal purgatory. Or, granted, it's not all sour and dim; A drug dealer who is on the verge of going bankrupt and has forgotten how to feel joy is completely intrigued when an abnormal man takes him on a romp through London and teaches him how to live again.

Meanwhile, the free-versed poems tend to lean more heavily into the more dour, sentimental side of things. The pain felt by the objects around us; not knowing how to live our lives; the ways we hurt ourselves and each other. It's all the little details in the bigger picture.

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